Chapter 8 - Section 17
They went to Carter Ridge the following morning.
Not all of them.
Rachel refused to bring the children.
Evelyn stayed with Toby and Sophia.
Rachel, Edward, Melissa, and Andrew drove in separate vehicles.
Nobody trusted anyone enough for one car.
The excavation site lay beyond the old workshop, past a stand of pine trees.
Section 17 was marked by temporary fencing.
Two excavators sat idle.
A trailer had been installed near the access road.
Three men emerged when they approached.
One wore a Blackwell Strategic vest.
“We’re closed.”
Edward held up property documents.
“I own this land.”
The man smiled.
“Not exactly.”
Andrew stiffened.
“What does that mean?”
“Mr. Carter.”
The man recognized him.
That was bad.
Edward stepped closer.
“My family trust owns this property.”
“Current ownership is under dispute.”
“By whom?”
The trailer door opened.
Daniel Mercer stepped out.
“By me.”
Rachel’s hands went cold.
Mercer wore sunglasses.
He removed them slowly.
“Mrs. Carter.”
“Stop coming near me.”
“I came nowhere near you. You came here.”
Edward moved between them.
“What authority do you have to excavate?”
“Permits.”
“Obtained using forged authorization.”
Mercer smiled.
“That allegation has not been proven.”
Melissa stepped forward.
“I’m counsel for Rachel Carter and Edward Carter.”
Mercer looked amused.
“Melissa Grant.”
“You know me?”
“I know everyone involved.”
Rachel hated the way he said it.
Melissa handed him a formal notice.
“Excavation stops pending fraud review.”
Mercer glanced at the document.
“Cute.”
“It was filed with the county this morning.”
His smile disappeared.
Andrew looked toward the pit.
“How close are you?”
Mercer’s eyes shifted toward him.
“You weren’t supposed to come here.”
Andrew laughed bitterly.
“Apparently nobody does what they’re supposed to anymore.”
Mercer moved closer.
“Your arrangement remains in force.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
Mercer’s expression hardened.
“You should reconsider.”
Rachel spoke.
“Did you photograph my children?”
Mercer looked at her.
“No.”
“Did you send Andrew the pictures?”
“No.”
“Do you know who did?”
Mercer paused.
That was enough.
Rachel stepped toward him.
“My daughter is six.”
“I know.”
Edward grabbed Mercer’s jacket.
Melissa said, “Edward.”
He did not release him.
“You stay away from those children.”
Mercer remained strangely calm.
“You misunderstand me.”
“Then explain.”
Mercer looked at Andrew.
“You tell them.”
Andrew’s face changed.
“Tell us what?” Rachel demanded.
Mercer smiled without humor.
“Jonathan Blackwell is not the only person who survived what happened forty years ago.”
Edward released him slowly.
“Who else?”
Mercer straightened his jacket.
“My father.”
Thomas Mercer.
The name from Arthur’s warning.
Rachel looked toward the excavation.
“What does your father want?”
“Justice.”
Andrew laughed.
“Money.”
Mercer ignored him.
“My father spent thirty-eight years waiting for Carter Ridge to become accessible.”
“Why?”
“Because Arthur Carter sealed the records.”
Edward said, “Records of falsified engineering tests.”
Mercer’s expression flickered.
“You found the files.”
“Some.”
“Then you know.”
“I know my father believed Charles Whitmore committed fraud.”
Mercer stared at him.
“Believed?”
The word carried contempt.
“You think this is about paperwork?”
Edward said nothing.
Mercer pointed toward Section 17.
“There are names in that chamber.”
“Whose?”
“Men who died.”
Rachel felt a chill.
“What men?”
Mercer turned to her.
“Workers.”
Silence.
“During testing,” Mercer continued. “A prototype underground structure failed.”
Edward’s face tightened.
“How many?”
“Officially? None.”
“And actually?”
“Thirty-one.”
Rachel stared.
Mercer continued.
“Charles Whitmore buried the report. Arthur Carter helped redesign the site and remove evidence.”
Edward shook his head.
“My father would never—”
Mercer laughed.
“Every son says that until the documents speak.”
Andrew whispered, “Jonathan said there was one death.”
“Jonathan lied.”
“Why?”
“Because Jonathan Blackwell was part of the test team.”
Evelyn’s lost fiancé.
Andrew’s biological father.
Alive for nearly forty years.
Rachel suddenly understood.
“He survived.”
Mercer nodded.
“So did my father.”
“Anyone else?”
Mercer looked toward the pit.
“One.”
“Who?”
He smiled.
“You’ll find out when we open the chamber.”
Melissa stepped forward.
“You’re not opening anything.”
Mercer glanced at the legal notice.
“Not today.”
They left.
But before Rachel entered her car, Andrew touched her arm.
“What?”
He looked shaken.
“Mercer lied.”
“About what?”
“The chamber.”
“How do you know?”
“He said we’ll find out when it opens.”
“And?”
Andrew looked back at the excavation.
“Jonathan told me the chamber was already opened once.”
Rachel stared.
“When?”
Andrew swallowed.
“Eighteen years ago.”
May you like
“The year Arthur died.”
“Yes.”
